Rand Paul, the extreme-right candidate for Kentucky senate, expressed some unfortunate anti-civil rights and pro-BP views this week. Then cited fatigue to get out of a potentially awkward appearance on NBC's Meet the Press today. Here's the video they ran.

Ouch. The appearance may have been canceled, according to Politico, citing "a source familiar with the matter" because "Karl Rove, the former top adviser to George W Bush, called Paul's campaign manager this week and said the candidate was hurting himself with all the exposure." Rove had no comment. Like Paul, really.